Zias Defeat West Texas A&M in Five Games
First time ENMU has beaten Lady Buffs since 1995

Box score

CANYON, TEXAS — And with that, a Lindsay Schiely (Jr., MB, Portland, OR/Clackamas CC) kill ended nine years of frustration for the Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team. On Tuesday, Oct. 12, the Zias defeated West Texas A&M University (30-23, 38-40, 30-20, 25-30, 15-9) for the first time since Oct. 29, 1995. The win improved Eastern to 16-5 on the season, and more importantly gave it a crucial win in Lone Star Conference South play, where the Zias are 1-2.

"We've never beaten them in The Box so that was a big step for us," head coach Mike Maguire said following the victory. "That was a win for all the teams that didn't beat West Texas."

ENMU made 13 kills in the fifth and deciding game, hitting .550 in the process. The Zias hit .206 for the match, while West Texas hit .133. The Lady Buffs fell to 15-10 on the season and 0-3 in the LSC South.

Eastern was led by Anna Bellum (Sr., OH, Albuquerque, NM/Garden City CC), who made 22 kills in the victory. Kelley McGinty (Sr., OH, Longview, WA/Whatcom CC) posted a season-high with 18 kills in the match, three of which came in game five. Emilie Rodman (Sr., MB, Gillette, WY/Western Wyoming CC) and Schiely each notched 16 kills and hit .282 and .293, respectively.

For the third straight match, the Zias used a platoon strategy at setter, with Margie Goble (Sr., S, San Antonio, TX/Holmes HS) and Amber McCarthy (Jr., S, Huntington Beach, CA/Orange Coast CC) splitting time. Goble made 28 assists to go along with four kills in the match, pushing her above the 5,000 assist mark for her career. In her four years with Eastern, Goble now has 5,021 assists. McCarthy led ENMU with 36 assists in the match.

The Zias had a strong day on defense, with Jessica Weeks (Sr., LIB, Brownwell, KS/Garden City CC) leading the way with 33 digs, getting support from McGinty, who posted 21. Bellum, McCarthy and Olivia Boan (Jr., DS, Portales, NM/Portales HS) each made 12 digs in the match. ENMU had 10 total team blocks, with Grace George (So., MB, Kaaawa, HI/Kahuku HS) making five, one solo. Schiely and Rodman each had four total blocks in the match.

The Lady Buffs were led by Cynthia Carter's 20 kills, and got significant support from Megan Spivey's 16. Rachel Altman (14) and Jessica Scherr (13) each added double-digit kills in the match. Freshman setter Erin Houlihan made 71 assists on the night.

ENMU has two more LSC South games this week, as it plays host to Tarleton State University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Kingsville comes to town on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. (MDT) tilt with the Zias, while Tarleton visits Greyhound Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m.